City, town councillors in environmental gab

CEBU, Philippines - Around 70 city and municipal councilors nationwide are in Cebu for a three-day training program on environmental issues.

Hosted by the Philippine Councilors League-Cebu chapter and conducted by the PCL Legislative Academy (PCLLA), the event started yesterday afternoon at Diamond Suites and Residences in Cebu City.

PCLLA executive director Hilario Caminero said the academy handles the training programs for local legislators while its partner, the Creating Healthy Environment through Effective and Responsible Solutions (CHEERS), handles the technical assistance.

The phase one of the program is a seminar-workshop aimed to raise awareness on various environmental issues among local government units.

Phase two is the technical assistance to LGUs to ensure the application of the capability-building concepts and enhance councilors’ capability in the formulation/crafting of environmental policies.

Phase three is the establishment of an automated data warehouse which will serve as repository of environmental legislations. The information will be made accessible to all the councilors across the country. 

    Caminero said PCL has randomly selected 45 LGUs nationwide with 15 each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“We aim to have small group approach so that the learning process will be more dynamic and effective,” Caminero explained.

Cebu Provincial Board Member Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca, president of PCL Cebu Chapter, sees the program as very important in helping local legislators.

“This is very important program since this will help us craft resolutions and ordinances that would relate to the importance of our main problem on environment. This would assist LGUs the compliance of environmental mandates,” Meca said.

Topics to be discussed include Environment, Disasters, Calamities and Climate Change: LGU Actions and Responses; Environmental Laws of the Philippines and LGU Compliance; sessions on Upland, Urban and Coastal-Marine Environment; and Eco-Governance: From Ridge to Reef. 

Caminero said that after the training, he will propose crash courses to be accredited in some universities so the modules will have academic units.

He added that there will be conferment of specific crash course after the completion of the modules. — (FREEMAN)